some $600 billion in automatic spending cuts and tax increases will take effect if no agreement is reached. obama and the rest of republicans remain of the impasse over the republican refusal to allow tax hikes even for the wealthiest americans. senate majority leader on thursday accused house speaker john boehner of holding up a deal. >> the american people i don't think understand the house representative is operating without the house of representatives. it is being operated with a dictatorship of the speaker, not allowing the vast majority of the house representatives to get what they want. >> adding to the urgency surrounding the talks, treasury secretary timothy geithner warned this week the u.s. will not be able to pay its creditors after monday unless the debt ceiling is raised. we will have more on the fiscal cliff talks, speaking with congressmember dennis kucinich after the headlines. environmental protection agency head lisa jackson has announced a resignation ahead of president obama's second term. jackson departs after a four- year tenure that saw advances in the regulation o